Athlete Drug Testing

Outcomes of a Prospective Trial of Student-Athlete Drug Testing: The Student-Athlete Testing Using Random Notification Study

The use of random drug and alcohol testing among high school athletes does not deter student-athletes from future drug use, concludes a study led by Dr. Linn Goldberg, a professor of medicine at the Portland, Ore.-based Oregon Health and Science University.

The sample consisted of 1,400 student-athletes selected from 11 high schools in the Portland area. Five of the high schools permitted researchers to conduct drug and alcohol testing in addition to surveys, while data from the remaining six high schools came solely from surveys of students.

Even though drug and alcohol use decreased during testing periods, the study found, students’ attitudes remained very negative about the benefits of testing as a deterrent to drug use, and they were shown to be more willing to take risks regarding drug and alcohol use once testing was no longer in place.